Jeff Bezos prepares to head into space

When Blue Origin launches people into space for the first time, founder Jeff Bezos will be on board.

No test pilots or flight engineers for Tuesday's debut flight from West Texas, just Bezos, his brother, an 82-year-old aviation pioneer and a teenage tourist.

The capsule is entirely automated, unlike Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic rocket plane that required two pilots to get him to space and back a week ago.

Bezos created Blue Origin in 2000. He has said he finances the rocket company by selling $1 billion in Amazon stock a year.

IMAGE: AP